10 Wrestlers Who Never Lived Up To Their Early Promise

9. Dolph Ziggler

Mr. KENNEDY
WWE.com

When Dolph Ziggler was installed as number one contender to Dean Ambrose's WWE title at this year's SummerSlam, few clamoured to see him dethrone the Lunatic Fringe.

The pairing had a midcard flavour; there were at least three matches fated to feature at its expense, and the result was never in doubt. Most predicted that Ziggler, as he had done so often, would fall at the last hurdle in a good-not-great fifteen minute bout, the likes of which even his most ardent supporters had grown weary of.

Predictably, their tussle, positioned sixth on a ten match main card, lasted 15:21 and was ably won by Ambrose.

It all went wrong for Ziggler following his 2013 face turn, engineered as a result of a groundswell of hardcore fan support and a paradoxically fortuitous concussion.

The booking which followed it was counterproductive at best, but Ziggler subsequently made a tiresome habit of saying how good he was without actually demonstrating it - wrestling the same back and forth, near fall-crammed matches while all around him, NXT upstarts were expanding the WWE in-ring style at a canter.

We implore Ziggler, following his umpteenth career loss to The Miz at Backlash, to prove us wrong and his own proclamations true by departing the WWE bosom and stretching his legs elsewhere...

In this post: 
Mr Kennedy
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!